Fudge Truffle Cheesecake

Or as we call it, simply Chocolate Cheesecake. I clipped this recipe from a magazine many years ago, and I don't even remember which one or when. Maybe it was even from one of those promotional cookbooklets? I don't remember.

I used to make this during Cheesefare Week**, but it rarely gets done anymore at that time of year. We're just so focused on so many different rich foods, and it's just too much to eat a whole cheesecake by ourselves, along with all that other stuff. So, when Paul recently mysteriously found my recipe on the dining room table (not sure how it got there...) and he asked, "oh, are you planning to make chocolate cheesecake?" I said no, but when he said, "could you?" I said, okay.

And I meant to get a picture of it! But I didn't remember to do so until I was on my last bite of it. I was going to snap one of that, but the camera's battery was depleted. So you'll just have to take my word for it: this cheesecake is utterly dark and lovely. It's not too hard to make, either.

Oh and sorry--no vegan alternatives for this one. :-)

Fudge Truffle Cheesecake

First, make the Chocolate Crumb Crust:
In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about 15 wafers), 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa and 1/3 cup melted butter. Press firmly on bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.

Note on the crust: I sometimes use chocolate wafers, or even chocolate sandwich-type cookies, and omit the cocoa and some of the sugar, to good results. Maybe use a bit more crumbs. It's easiest to make cookie crumbs in a blender or food processor.

Filling:

3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened (I *love* the Gina Marie cream cheese, from the Sierra Nevada Cheese Company; you can buy it at New Seasons or Food Front locally. Non-locally, you're on your own!)
1 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes or until center is set. Cool. Chill. Garnish as desired (garnish? Who needs garnish?) and refrigerate the leftovers.

**Cheesefare Week, also called Butter Week in the Russian church, is the time in the Orthodox church right before Lent begins. It's the equivalent to Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday in the Catholic Church. Except, of course, that fasting is null and void (practically) in the Catholic church during Lent. In the Orthodox church we really know how to *fast.* :-)